the Fret Dentist (me) has operated. [PICS]

that's right, i yanked the frets from my aria "CAT" bass. as some of you may remember, i got this bass for free, as a little gift, which was the only reason i had the courage to undertake this task. i'm not exactly handy with tools or physical objects in general.

but that didn't stop me from getting busy with this thing
that i found at the local hardware store, perfect for the job. i chipped the fingerboard quite a bit on some of the frets before i got the hang of it, oh well.

i then filled in the gaps with wood filler. this took a long time, as i would squeeze it in there, pack it down with a razor, and do it again. it took about 4 times for each fret hole.

then came the sanding, starting with coarse, and using fine paper when the board started feeling smooth. prior to this, the bass had the darkest rosewood board i'd ever seen, almost black. sanding it revealed a lighter layer and some interesting patterns in the wood. nothing fancy, but come on, it is rosewood after all.

here are a couple of the worse frets. oops.

here are some less terrible ones:

the money shot, and my snazzy new strap.

so, i could have done a prettier job, but hey, function over form. and this baby really functions. i'm having a great time and it sounds great, my intonation notwithstanding. the PJ pickups are great for fretless. i can get the paul simonon fretless P tone, or the soloed jazz bridge pickup, and i think we all know who used that!*

I have a pair of pliers like that. It helps when you file or grind off the part that touches the fretboard so that the thinnest part (where the two sides of the beak touch) is on the outside. That way, when you squeeze under the fret crown, you push down on the fretboard, resulting is less wood chips being pulled out. (Stew-Mac sells them like that too)

i was considering that if the board proved to be wearing quickly after a while (i'm using rounds) but i don't really like the feel. the first fretless i played was an uncoated warwick and i fell in love. i tried a pentabuzz once and didn't like that hard glassy finish. but, it protects the board and probably offers better definition, so you never know.

the best thing about this whole project is that i have completely eliminated my bass GAS. i don't feel that i will need five or more strings anytime in the near future, and now i've got a high quality fretted, a fretless, and my old p-style doing dub duty with foam mutes and flatwounds. at some point in the future i'll want to have a real fender P, a stingray, et cetera, but i don't NEED anything else. after i buy a 2x10 this summer, i will be pretty much done with buying bass gear altogether unless i hit the big time. now, on to getting some respectable guitar gear...

Originally posted by BasSR205DXwhere did you get the strap? I want one!

Click to expand...

i saw an old pic of jane's addiction where eric avery had a strap like that on HIS black bass, and it looked so good i went to guitar center in high hopes, and i found it. hooray!

Nice job, looks good to me. I think after i get the DP [late this year order] i'll buy a fretless neck for either the pilot or the jazz so that i don't screw up the original necks. Looks good though, i like it. thats all